A Christian Thanksgiving
by Daddysgirl11
Summary: Austin's very nervous to meet his girlfriend Ally's family for the first time-on Thanksgiving no less. it doesn't help that her family is very religious, and Austin doesn't know how to act around them. Does he realize what it truly means to be a Christian? And will Ally's parents, three brothers, grandfather, and other family accept the newcomer?


**Please forgive me, it's late and this is unedited.**

**I don't own Austin &amp; Ally**

* * *

"Ally, are you sure about this?" Austin asked for probably the hundredth time that evening. Ally just smiled knowingly up at her boyfriend.

Austin and Ally had been dating for the past three months now, having met in music class at the beginning of the year and forged an instant connection, and now her parents wanted to meet him. Austin was not only nervous about meeting Ally's family; he was especially nervous seeing as it was Thanksgiving.

Now while most people in America did celebrate Thanksgiving with their families, Ally's family tended to go a little overboard with the holiday. The majority of her family, on both sides, would be attending this meal, and Austin was especially nervous to meet Ally's parents (particularly her father) for the first time….along with her three brothers. Two older, one younger. Austin knew Ally's family was very religious, she'd told him as much, so he didn't really know what to expect.

Not to say Austin wasn't a Christian himself, he just didn't know what to expect from a family whose entire life revolved around Christ as much as Ally's family's lives seemed to. Thinking that way made him feel guilty, and he knew he wasn't on God's list of favorite people in the world at the moment. He wasn't a bad kid, but he certainly wasn't a saint, that was for sure.

"Austin, you're gonna do fine, I promise" Ally said, half dragging him up the rest of the driveway by the arm. "My parents are gonna love you."

"What if they don't think I'm good enough for you? What if they don't think I'm a good enough Christian?" Austin worried, biting his bottom lip. Ally stopped dragging him and turned to face him when they got to the bottom of the steps leading towards her porch.

"Austin, what on earth would make you think that? You told me you go to church every Sunday, just like me, and that you believe Jesus is God's son. Plus, I've met your family before and I know they're good people. Why are you worried that my parents won't think you're a good Christian?" Ally asked, her hands perched on her hips in slight exasperation. She couldn't even imagine why Austin would be saying those things. She wasn't a mind reader, but from what she'd seen of him, Austin seemed to be a good, kind, God-loving boy. Why wouldn't her parents approve?

"Well I'm not perfect" Austin started.

"And neither am I" Ally said folding her arms over her chest. "Nobody's perfect, Austin."

"And I don't understand everything the Bible teaches us" Austin continued, as if she hadn't spoken.

"I don't either" Ally laughed, surprising Austin. She actually laughed! And he'd thought she knew everything about the Bible, from the way she talked…

"Sure you do" Austin said confusedly.

"No, I don't" Ally argued. "Not many people ever do sweetie. Believe it or not, even the most religious people who've studied the Bible their entire lives still learn something new every time they open it. And many of the subjects spoken of in the Bible are very difficult to grasp and take many times reading and discussing to analyze. Did you really think all Christians knew everything God was trying to tell us in the Bible? And did you really think that's what makes a good Christian?"

"Well….yeah, I thought" Austin said, looking very confused. "Then what's your definition of a Christian?"

Ally smiled softly at her precious boyfriend. "Ask me that again after you meet my family. I have a feeling you'll get a better perspective from them on this subject, and you'll understand what I'm saying a bit more."

Austin frowned, hoping that she wasn't implying that he was stupid, but knowing if she was she had every right to. He surely didn't know as much about the Bible as she did, though he'd like to. Just being around this vibrant, Godly woman for the past four months (three of which they were together) made him want to know more about God, who'd made her into the beautiful, amazing, wonderful person she was today and every day.

When Ally pushed the front door open, Austin's breath caught in his throat. There were already several people in her house, and a ton of noise to go along with that. How was he supposed to meet and _remember_ all these people without having a mental breakdown in the process?

"Mom!" Ally exclaimed suddenly, pulling a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties into a tight hug.

Austin got to get a good look at both mother and daughter at that moment. Penny Dawson looked an awful lot like her daughter, more than Austin would've expected. She was beautiful for someone his own mother's age, with her golden-brown hair just a shade lighter than Ally's curled down just below her shoulders. She looked to be the same height as Ally as well. Austin cracked a small smile, knowing Ally would age well, although he had no doubt about that in the first place.

"Mom, I would like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Austin Moon" Ally grinned, gesturing towards Austin. In a softer voice she obviously hadn't meant for Austin to hear (though he did), she added, "He's a little nervous."

Paying no mind to Ally's obvious wishes to keep that tidbit of information quiet, Penny grinned and Austin and exclaimed quite loudly, "Well, there's nothing to be nervous about honey! You're perfectly welcome here. I'm Penny, and I'm so glad Ally's found someone so handsome that she's raved on and on about for weeks now. I was beginning to wonder if such a fine gentleman even existed, but here you are!"

"Mom" Ally whined. Austin chuckled.

"Thank you Mrs. Dawson."

"Oh please, call me Penny" she said immediately. Austin laughed, feeling a little lighter. At least he know Ally's mom liked him.

"Okay, thank you….Penny" Austin said after a moment.

She flashed him a grin and ruffled his hair. "That a boy" she said before excusing herself to attend to some other matter, muttering something about kids bothering the new flat-screen or something.

"Sorry about that" Ally grimaced, reaching up to fix Austin's hair. "I can't believe my mother just did that. Well, I can, but I wish she I didn't have to."

Austin just laughed, pulling her hands away. "It's fine Als. Your Mom's nice. I'm glad she's the first person in your family I met. Calmed me down for a few seconds."

Ally rolled her eyes at that but smiled anyway. "Well come on and I'll introduce you to my dad and brothers."

"Oh no" Austin grumbled, letting her drag him around her house by the arm again. He had a feeling this would be happening a lot. They passed a lot of people Austin guessed to be aunts, uncles, and cousins seeing as Ally didn't really stop to say much except a few casual greetings. She'd told him earlier she was only introducing him to her immediate family before the meal. At the dinner table was when everyone always introduced their new arrivals (along with other important family news) to the entire brood.

"Don't start your whining. I told you they're gonna love you" Ally said, not looking back.

Austin sighed but didn't object. Ally seemed set on making him face one of his biggest fears-or three of them, including her older brothers-tonight. He wasn't necessarily terrified to meet her _younger_ brother considering Ally told him the kid was only eight. But who knew? Some eight year olds could put up a bigger fight than a pro wrestler.

Ally led him through the house and into the den, presumably where the majority of the men in the family would be found watching football. And his assumptions were correct. He wanted to ask who was winning, but didn't want to draw any more unwanted attention to himself.

"Nick, where's Dad and Davey?" Ally asked a boy who looked to be about their age, maybe a little older.

"Davey went up to sneak some popcorn and Dad's in the can" the boy-Nick-said. Ally sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine then, I guess I'll just introduce _you_ to my boyfriend first" Ally grumbled, though Ally could tell she was just teasing from the glint in her eyes. She appeared to be suppressing a smile. Austin assumed this was one of her brothers, though he had no idea which one.

"Oh so this is….Jack? Or Jacob?" Nick asked.

"Austin" the poor blond said blinking.

"Hmmm, I don't think you're one of the boyfriends Ally moans about in her sleep…" the boy said, rubbing his jaw.

And goody-goody Ally Dawson did the last thing Austin every expected her to do by striking out at her brother. "Nicholas Dawson, you take that back right now!" she shouted, hitting him a few more times.

"Calm down baby sis" Nick laughed, grabbing her wrists and twisting her around to where he was hugging her at an odd angle from behind while Ally fought to free herself, though it was obvious she wasn't in any real danger. Even though Austin had no siblings himself, he recognized what sibling fighting looked like when he saw it.

"Let me go" Ally grumbled, but to no avail. Austin had to keep himself from laughing.

"Oh, that's no way to treat your big brother, is it? I tell you Ally, you've wounded me" Nick grinned, turning towards Austin. He then extended a hand towards him and still managed to restrain both of Ally's. "The name's Nick. I's just kiddin' about all that other boyfriend crap. Just testing the patience of our little fireball here."

Austin laughed. "It's all good. I can see she must be a big handful."

Ally glared at him from where she still struggled in her brother's grip. When he finally let her go, Ally stepped out of his arms and slapped Austin's. "That's for agreeing with him." Then she kissed him, square on the lips, in front of her brother. She backed up, grinning cheekily. "And that's for having to deal with my brother and his horrible grammar."

"Hey, I heard that" Nick protested from his seat, but he was already back from watching the game.

"Wait a second, did you say Davey went to get _popcorn_?" Ally asked, turning back to her brother, as if she just now comprehended what he'd said after like ten whole minutes.

"Yep" Nick said, still staring at the screen. Austin found himself casually leaning in that direction, trying not to let Ally see him. To be fair, he had given up watching football at his own house, as is tradition, for this.

"But we're about to have lunch! Why would he do that?" Ally demanded. Austin took a wild guess and figured 'Davey' was their younger brother.

Nick shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Didn't think to ask why as long as he promised to bring me back some."

He had to duck when Ally chucked a pillow at him.

"I can't believe this" Ally muttered. "DAVID ZACHARY DAWSON!"

Austin winced at how loud Ally could yell, and soon heard footsteps bounding down the steps, much louder than he would've assumed for an eight year old.

"_What_?" a boy asked in exasperation. "I was _trying_ to make some popcorn for me and Nick."

Okay, he was definitely not eight. So this must be Ally's other older brother. Which one was the oldest, Austin had no idea.

Ally put her hands on her hips at that, a motion Austin both thought adorable and intimidating. "Davey, you seriously couldn't wait ten minutes until we eat lunch? You're gonna be too full to enjoy the meal!"

"First, that could never happen" the boy started, which Ally rolled her eyes to. "Second, does it really look like I care?"

"Well you should" Ally declared with an exasperated huff as she muttered incoherent complaints about her brothers, which happened to be the only word Austin could actually catch.

"Who's the guy?" Davey, or David-Austin wasn't sure-asked.

"Ally's _boyfriend_, Austin" Nick grinned, stretching out the word 'boyfriend' in a sing-song tune.

"I see" the guy said in a skeptical tone. "Nick, do you approve of this?"

Austin blinked and stared helplessly between the two brothers and down at Ally.

"I don't know man, he seems like a fish out of water" Nick shook his head, still grinning. That seemed to be one of the main differences between the Dawson brothers. Where Nick was all jokes and smiles, Davey seemed more serious and skeptical. Not to mention their hair. Nick had sort of spikey brown-almost black-hair whereas Davey had sandy-blond hair that _had_ to come from their dad's side of the family, seeing as the other Dawsons all had dark hair so far. Davey's hair was also longer than Nick's. Thicker too. But one trait that Austin noticed all the Dawsons shared so far were their brown eyes. If Mr. Dawson and Ally's little brother showed up with brown eyes, it wouldn't come as a shock.

"Nicholas" Ally chastised, making it sound like she were scolding a child rather than an older brother.

"Allyson" Nick retorted. Ally paled.

"You know I don't like going by my full name" she gritted out through her teeth.

"None of us do" Nick rolled his eyes. "Why do you think Davey goes by a baby name?"

"I tried to get you people to call me Dave" their brother complained. Then, he grumbled, "That was Ally's fault anyway."

"Well I couldn't say David when I was a baby!" Ally expressed. "And you're only three years older than me."

"Practically a lifetime" Nick smirked.

"Don't forget I'm still two years older than y_ou_" Davey reminded him. Austin mentally thanked them for clearing up the age differences. So Davey was the oldest, then Nick, then Ally, then whatever their little brother's name was.

"Yeah, yeah" Nick muttered. "Did you ever get the popcorn?"

"I'm nineteen, little brother. What do I look like, your personal slave?" Davey asked.

"Yes" both Ally and Nick said at the same time.

"See what I have to deal with?" Davey asked, turning towards Austin. "How old are you anyway?"

"Sixteen, same as Ally" Austin gulped.

"Technically I'm a month and a half older" Ally added.

"Ha! I'm seventeen. Got both of you losers beat! Man, it must suck to be a sophomore" Nick exclaimed.

"Immature as always, Nick" an older man-probably in his sixties or seventies-said, speaking up from the couch.

"Granddad!" Ally exclaimed, lunging towards to old man. "I didn't know you were here!"

"Well sugar, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without seeing your pretty little face, now would it?" the old man said, kissing Ally's cheek. Ally grinned and motioned for Austin to come over. He did, noting that Ally's brothers had turned their attention back to the game, apparently not caring if their little sister were dating a boy they'd never met. Huh. Not what he was expecting.

"Granddad, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Austin. Austin, this is my Granddad, Jeff."

"Nice to meet you son" Ally's grandfather said, sticking his hand out.

"You too sir" Austin smiled, shaking his hand.

"Awe, I don't wanna hear any of this 'sir' nonsense. Had enough struggle getting Ally's mother to say it growing up, I don't even bother anymore. I never liked it much anyways. You can call me Jeff" the man smiled. Austin laughed, but nodded.

"Might be hard to break the habit, but I'll try Jeff" Austin said. Then to Ally, he whispered, "Do all the adults in your family ask to go by their first names?"

"Pretty much" Ally shrugged.

"Not true" Davey called from the other couch where he sat next to his brother. "You can call me Mr. Dawson, boy."

Austin blinked, his eyes wide. After a moment of silence, the room erupted into laughter.

"He thought you were serious!" Nick exclaimed, his face bright red as he laughed his head off. Davey was grinning too, but tried to keep his composure as a few cackles slipped up every once in a while.

"Austin, son, you mind my grandsons now. They don't know how to treat a guest" Jeff said, grabbing the sleeve of Austin's jacket. "You're plenty welcome here. Make yourself at home, and don't worry so much about what they think. Have you met Lester and my daughter yet?"

"I've met your daughter, but not Ally's father" Austin explained. Ally had gone off to scold her brothers again, so Austin took a seat next to Jeff, feeling more comfortable next to someone who wasn't trying to make him die in fear. That must be where Penny and Ally get it from.

"Oh, then you've gotten through most of the easy ones. Lester will love you to death, boy. He'll probably even try to recruit you on his fantasy football team or something" Jeff laughed. "Tommy's the real one you have to worry about."

"Tommy?"

"Have you not met Tommy yet? Ally's little brother?" Jeff asked. Austin shook his head. Jeff laughed lightly and put a hand on Austin's arm. "Then God bless you son. I wish you the best of luck."

"Please tell me the kid isn't in karate" Austin begged. "I've dealt with those kind of monsters before, believe it or not, and I don't really wish to get on another's bad side."

Jeff laughed. "You'll see what I'm talking about when you meet the kid. He's as big a fireball as Ally, if not bigger."

"Where's Dad?" Ally asked suddenly. "Nick, I thought you said he went to the bathroom?"

"I say a lot of things" Nick muttered, obviously not paying her any attention. Ally huffed and moved over to where Austin and Jeff were sitting, plopping down on the remaining space, next to Austin.

"Granddad, do you know where my dad went?" Ally asked, looking past Austin to Jeff who shrugged.

"Sorry sweet-pea, can't say I do. I think he said something about a car, but what do I know?" Jeff laughed at himself.

Ally smiled. "Thanks Granddad, we'll go check the garage."

With that, Ally stood up, dropped a kiss on her grandfather's cheek, and hauled Austin up to his feet once more.

"Oh, and Ally, remind your father of small groups being at Kevin's house this week. I just know I'm gonna forget to tell him the changes later" Jeff called. Ally said she would before dragging Austin off towards the garage.

"Your grandfather seems cool" Austin said, trying to start a conversation before he had to meet her father.

Ally grinned. "Granddad is like my best friend of the family. He always has my back against my brothers, which is awesome considering I'm the only girl in the family. I think he has a soft spot for girls, especially since Mom was the only girl in her family too."

"Well I couldn't tell if your brothers were cool with us or not" Austin sighed, shaking his head. These Dawsons were one tough puzzle to solve.

"Oh trust me, they loved you. Especially Nick. Davey just has a hard time admitting that he approves of anyone, especially one of my boyfriends. He always claimed he'd kill the guy who broke my heart, so he doesn't want to say when he likes one of them. Even though you're the only one" Ally added as an afterthought. "But Nick loved you. He hides everything with jokes, but if he told you he was kidding, he really likes you."

"I feel so loved" Austin joked, earning a grin and an elbow to the ribs from Ally. "What will your dad and little brother think?"

"Just wait and see" Ally laughed as she opened the garage door. "Hey dad are you in-Tommy!"

Austin's eyes widened into realization as he saw a boy-presumably Ally's little brother-sitting behind the wheel of the only car in the garage….or what was left of it.

Looking guilty as a sinner in church, the kid with the jet-black bowl-cut hair and brown eyes looked up as Ally screeched his name, his wide eyes looking partially shocked and partially terrified. He car's back end was sticking half out into the driveway-through the garage door. How they hadn't heard _that_ happen, Austin would never know.

He know knew what Jeff meant by Ally's little brother being the one they had to worry about.

"My goodness-Tommy, are you okay!?" Ally exclaimed, flinging herself at the wreckage. Austin rushed after her, careful not to step on any of the glass. He was watching Ally like a hawk, too, to make sure she didn't fall in her mad dash to get to her brother. "Don't you move out of that car, mister."

"I-I'm sorry" the little boy stuttered. "I didn't mean to wreck the car."

"Why were you in it in the first place?" Ally asked in exasperation as she yanked the front door open. "You could've gotten yourself or someone else killed or-oh baby, you're bleeding."

The boy sniffed, nodding. "It don't hurt that bad, Ally. It's just a little cut."

"A cut is a cut, no matter the size" Ally said, taking her jacket off and throwing it onto a table a few feet away. "Austin, could you help me get him out?"

"Yeah, scoot over" Austin said, lightly pushing her out of the way with his hip as he reached down to get the kid out. "Okay bud, when I help get you out, I'm gonna need you to get on my back, alright?"

"I don't know you." The boy looked skeptical.

"It's okay Tommy. This is Austin, my boyfriend" Ally said from beside him. Tommy bit his lip for a second before nodding at Austin who started to take his seatbelt off. "At least he had enough sense to put that on" Ally muttered.

"You know, I've wrecked a car before too" Austin said as he was still untangling the boy from some of the rubbish. "Totaled it."

"I bet you weren't eight" the boy retorted. Austin laughed. He had to give him that.

"No, but I was eleven" Austin said. Both Dawsons turned to him with wide eyes.

"Eleven?" the boy echoed.

"Yep" Austin nodded. "Eleven. I wanted to prove that I was a man and I was old enough to drive my mom's new car. Now, I didn't have permission, but I thought my parents would overlook that when they saw how great I could drive at my age. It didn't exactly go as planned…"

Ally bit back a giggle, this not being a funny situation, when Austin said that. He winked over at her and got the last piece of junk off her little brother.

"Come on" Austin said leaning down. "Get on my back."

"So what happened?" Tommy asked after he wrapped his arms around Austin's neck and he stood up. Austin laughed, looking down at Ally instead.

"I drove it through my uncle's barn, out the back, and into the lake. My mom was freaking out, thinking I'd drowned. When I popped up out of the water, she was hugging me so hard, saying if I ever did that again she'd kill me" Austin grinned at the memory.

"Enough stories" Ally said clearing her throat. "Let's get that cut looked at."

Austin had to say, the kid was brave. Apparently he banged his knee up pretty could, and he had a large cut across his forehead, which he claimed didn't even hurt. Austin couldn't tell if the kid was crazy adventurous or just had a death wish.

When they walked back into the house, people surrounded them, like Austin expected, demanding answers in the most concerned way.

"Oh my baby!" Penny cried, pushing through her relatives. "What happened!?"

"I wrecked the car" Tommy said looking down. After a moment, he added, "And the garage."

"Yeah, it's a mess down there, Mom" Ally said with a rueful glance. "But Austin got him out of the car."

"Thank you so much!" Penny gasped, the amount of gratitude in her eyes almost overwhelming. "What a miracle you were there" she continued. "Austin, you are truly a blessing to this family. A gift from God, not that we ever doubted that before. I can't think of anyone more fit for my daughter."

"Thank you Penny" Austin managed to say, though his throat was clogged with emotion. These were truly Godly people. They didn't overwhelm you with their faith, but attested to it in everything they did. Penny Dawson had said he was a gift from God. Was that possible?

"Come on baby" Penny said, grabbing her son from Austin's back. "Let's get that forehead checked out."

"And his knee!" Ally called after her mother. Penny nodded in thanks to her daughter.

"I like him" Tommy said as they walked away.

Penny smiled softly at her youngest child, so happy to have him alive, she couldn't even think of punishing him at the moment. "Yeah, I do too baby."

Ally turned to Austin with an odd smile on her face. "What?" Austin asked chuckling.

She just shook her head and reached up, planting a kiss on his cheek. "That was amazing, how you calmed my little brother down back there. I was freaking out. I didn't know whether to yell at him or scream thanks to God he was alright."

Austin shrugged. "I did nothing but tell him a story I remembered at the moment. Believe it or not, several kids have wrecked a car before."

"Oh, I know" Ally laughed. "We've all done it."

"What?" Austin asked, shocked.

"Well, we all haven't w_recked_ a car" Ally smiled. "Davey drove for the first time when he was eight, like Tommy, but he freaked out and didn't make it but four feet before slamming on the breaks and running out of the car, screaming 'I didn't do it!'. Nick drove the car the same year, when he was six. He backed it all the way from the driveway into the yard, and then drove forward, stopping inches from the mailbox. And I-well, I drove the car when I was nine, and I backed all the way into Mom's flower bed. By that time Davey was twelve, so him and Nick helped me push the car back into the driveway before Mom and Dad got home. Without letting me totally off the hook, as soon as Mom saw the flowers they ratted me out by saying that I ruined them, they just didn't say how."

"Wow, did you all get in trouble?" Austin asked.

"Well, with Davey they just didn't let him have dessert, because they couldn't figure out what he'd done, but his subtleties were horrible back then so he let them know he did _something._ Nick was caught by Granddad, who did not rat him out, but made him stay in his room every time he babysat for the next month and read a book. Nick hated reading, and Granddad babysat a lot." Ally laughed. "And then I would've gotten away with no TV for the night if I hadn't have felt so guilty and so sad by my mom's sad face at the flowers. I ratted myself out and got no dessert for a week, and no TV for two."

"So you got the worse of the punishments for doing the exact same thing your brothers all did?" Austin asked, one corner of his mouth hitching up at her story. She couldn't dare lie to her parents at nine years old, even when she could've gotten off so easy.

"Not true" Ally smiled. "Granddad let me watch TV during those two weeks, I got off early for good behavior, and my brothers both brought me half their dessert every night I was grounded. Gotta love family."

Austin just smiled, shaking his head. "You're such a goody-goody."

"Oh shut up" Ally said shoving him. Austin laughed and wrapped his arm around her, completely aware that her family was watching.

"But you're my goody-goody" he said pressing a kiss to her temple.

"What happened to the car!?" a man about the age of Penny, with greying dark blond hair and brown eyes, exclaimed as he rushed through the front door.

It took half an hour to catch the man up and for him to explain that he'd been running last minute Thanksgiving errands for his wife. Austin had quickly realized that this was Ally's father, and there was something so hilariously comical and loving about the man that Austin already liked him, though they hadn't yet been formally introduced.

When Ally finished telling her dad everything that'd happened when they found Tommy, Lester turned towards Austin and smiled. "Welcome to the family."

Austin blinked, unsure of what to say. He might have expected a thank you considering everyone else were saying that, but he didn't expect this.

"Excuse me?" Austin asked. Lester laughed.

"Ally, I like him. Say, you wouldn't want to join my fantasy football team, would you kid? I've got an open spot, and there's plenty of room for you" Lester grinned at him hopefully. Austin laughed. How could he refuse?

"Sure, Mr. Dawson. That sounds like fun" Austin said shaking the man's hand.

"Call me Lester, boy. Haven't you learned that about this family yet?"

Everyone laughed at that, and soon the large table in the dining room was full of Ally's entire family.

"So Austin, what's a local hero like you hoping to do for a career?" Penny asked once they were all seated.

Austin shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Penny, but I do know that I want to do whatever will make God happy. I wanna be a better Christian like you all."

"Oh honey" Penny said turning away, dabbing her eyes with a napkin.

"Ally" Austin whispered, turning away from his shock at Penny's reaction.

"Yeah?" Ally asked smiling.

"Now will you tell me your definition of a true Christian?" Austin asked.

Ally grinned. "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Austin nodded. "Of course. I'm not that lost."

"Do you believe that He lived a sinless life and was the only perfect person on this earth?" Ally asked.

"Yep."

"Do you believe He died for our sins?" Ally asked. Austin nodded again. "So you know you're a sinner, just like everyone else?"

"Of course. I probably have more sins than all of you combined" Austin mumbled.

"Hardly" Davey scoffed. Ally kicked him under the table, quieting her brother.

"Austin, all you have to do is confess you sins, repent, and accept His forgiveness. You have to believe that He loves you unconditionally. That's all it takes to be a true Christian, baby" Ally explained.

"Really?" Austin asked in surprise. He'd thought it'd be much more complicated than that. Ally smiled and nodded.

"Really."

"Well isn't this just the perfect Thanksgiving treat!" Penny exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I'm so thankful for Austin, who helped my baby in a time of distress, obviously makes my little girl happy, and is an overall amazing person. You are a gift from God, sweetie."

"Thank you Penny" Austin smiled at her, feeling somewhat lighter. He hadn't realized that the majority of what it took to be a good Christian….he'd already done. He'd spent so long just trying to earn God's love, he forgot it was unconditional and His grace came to those who didn't even deserve His love.

"I'm also thankful that though my crazy youngest son did something wrong by trying to drive my car, he's still alive and only has a cut and a bruised knee. I'm thankful for my wonderful family and the grace of God" Penny finished.

Everyone continued to give their thanks, all the while Austin felt on top of the world. He felt accepted not only by Ally's family, but by God. He felt loved.

There was a lot for him to be thankful for this year.

"Happy Thanksgiving Ally" Austin smiled as he leaned over and kissed his girlfriend softly. Ally smiled as they leaned back.

"Happy Thanksgiving Austin."

* * *

**Hi everyone! So I stayed up until like 3 in the morning writing this, since like 10, so I really hope you guys like it because it took a lot of work to get it in by Thanksgiving. It's also unedited, so please bear with the mistakes. In other news, I will be doing a part 2 to this one-shot, my Halloween one-shot (Scary Love), and I will also post a Project Beautiful one-shot. I would've posted that last one on the 17****th**** like last year, seeing as I started it right after Halloween, but I was so busy and I really needed the time for that one. I'm treating it with great care and consideration. I hope it'll be even better than You're So Worth It was, for a subject so serious.**

**Also, this one-shot is dedicated to Jesus Christ, my one true Savior, without whom nothing in my life would be possible. I recently realized that I might have been taking advantage of my knowledge of being a Christian, and I haven't been focusing on giving Him the glory in everything I do. I had a sort of revelation the other night, and I reread this book that I love so much. It's called His Small-Town Girl by Arlene James, and I was so inspired by how she so incredibly captured this man's amazing change from his old life into accepting Christ. This one-shot is sort of inspiration from that book, so if you ever read it and anything looks familiar, I just reread that book before I wrote this so it might have similar themes but I absolutely mean no disrespect to one of the best books I have ever read.**

***Don't own anything.**

**Happy Thanksgiving!**

**God bless you all!**

**-Daddysgirl11**


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